Well, it's my first update of 2018! Yay!

Happy New Year everyone, even if I'm a day late.

Thank you to Guest 1, Guest 2, Vasalli, Mikazuki Augus1, Blacksword Zero, Guest 3, Guest 4, harlequin320, DYnoJackal19, Shadow-Shinobi666, DarkAeroSage, OBSERVER01, Guest 5, Wisegirl12xx, Doommajor, Scarease, QuaintReticent, Anand891996, B-Kira, Grimraven.V, Imperial warlord, and Shimmering-Sky for reviewing the last chapter. You guys are awesome!

I hope you enjoy this chapter and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.

. . .

. . .

March 22, 2017

Saitama Ghetto, Area 11

The leader of the Yamato Alliance, Yasuo Hotate, paced angrily in the small room at the temporary headquarters that he and his men had fled to following the failed attack on that lab when the 1st Regiment had driven them away. He was mostly angry because of those damn Liberators! They said that they would give him weapons if he helped them with their attack but, after he and his men had been forced to retreat from the battle, they hadn't fallen through with their end of the deal.

And it pissed him off to no end.

Because, he was back to square one; he still had a few of the Glasgows from the attack on the lab and a few missile launchers and all of his members still had some ammo left for their guns but that was pretty much it. They were running low on weapons and fast and the Liberators, despite promising them, were not giving them supplies.

"Sir, are you okay?" one member of the Alliance, a guy named Susumu, said.

"I'm fine," he snapped as he paced, glaring at the ground. "The Liberators were supposed to help us but that fell through and I have no idea why! It's pissing me off that they refuse to give the help that they promised us and they won't even tell us why!"

"Maybe they think we haven't proven ourselves to them or something," another member of the Alliance, a guy named Taichi, suggested.

Yasuo paused in his pacing, eyes narrowed in thought. "Hmm, you could be right but, nonetheless, we are running low on weapons and supplies."

"Um, what about the Weapons Depot on the edge of the Saitama Ghetto?" Another Alliance member that the leader didn't bother on learning the name of suggested. "I mean it's not guarded well, er, well, not that much anyway. It'd be a good place to strike 'cause no one really pays much attention to it 'cause it's one of the smaller ones and it doesn't have knightmares or nothing like that but it does have guns and rifles and grenades and stuff like that. At least, that's what the spy you sent in that direction managed to find out."

"Dude, how are you not passing out from saying all of that in one breath?" Susumu said bewildered.

"When did this spy's report come in? And why wasn't I informed immediately?" Yasuo growled at the same time, whirling around to glare at his subordinate who gulped and lowered his head.

"Well, um, it kinda came in while you were attacking the lab so, um, I didn't think 'bout it 'till now," he said.

Yasuo scowled but his lips pressed together thoughtfully at his subordinate's words. If that Weapons Depot really isn't that well guarded then that might be my chance to get the weapons and supplies that I need, he thought. "Do you know anything else about what's happening at that depot? When would be the opportune moment to attack?"

"The spy says that the depot's manager was talking about hosting a class of Britannian students next Thursday who are being introduced to the Britannian military and taking a tour of all of the military facilities here in Area 11" that same subordinate said.

"Japan, damn it."

"Sorry."

Yasuo pursued his lips. "Next Thursday..." he murmured as a plan began to form in his mind. "That could work."

. . .

35

Attack at the Weapons Depot

March 26, 2017

Tokyo Military Base, Tokyo Settlement

So close!

That was one of the first thoughts that crossed Tara's mind as she found herself pinned to the ground in the hangar of the military base. She had been within only a few feet of the doors, had almost gotten free of the base, before three Black Knights had managed to catch up to her and tackle her. They weren't letting her up either. It didn't help that she couldn't concentrate on any of the items or people in the hangar to use her Geass.

She had been trapped in the cells beneath the military base for the past three weeks coming up with a plan to get out of there. She knew that it was unlikely that she would be able to get near the princess now; while she was determined to take out that useless bitch of a princess, she wasn't stupid enough to do so when security had probably tripled around her.

But that didn't stop her from trying to escape. Just because she wasn't going to go after the princess, now, that didn't mean that she wanted to remain imprisoned. She hadn't broken from the various interrogations that Prince Lelouch had put her through but she also didn't want to just sit in a cell when she could be fighting to fulfill her own dream.

B.B. wouldn't help her anymore. A small part of her regretted that—even if she would never admit it out loud, and never to him, she did care for B.B. and just wished that he hadn't been so quick as to go against her decision, since she knew that it was the only way to get her revenge—but it just meant that she would just have to do it by herself. She would get her revenge and destroy anyone who got in her way, including that useless bitch and her demon of a brother.

But, in order to do that, she needed to break free from the Black Knights that were keeping her pinned.

They had spoken to the Demon Prince earlier, telling them about how they'd managed to capture her soon after she'd managed to get out—she was still pissed by that—so she knew that the prince was on his way. Even if she did want to get free, she found herself suddenly wondering if this might be her chance to kill the Demon Prince himself.

She snorted, ceasing her struggling. If she wanted to kill the Demon Prince then she would need to concentrate on something in the hangar to use as a weapon or get her hands on a gun. She could use her Geass on the prince himself but using it on human beings seems, recently, to take far too much energy from her and she was already starting to get a headache as it was. But there were items in the hangar that she could use if she could just get them in her line of sight and be given the time she needed to concentrate on them.

And the Demon Prince has seen her Geass in action so she would have to be careful to not alert the prince to the fact that she was using it.

The door slid open and Tara lifted her head slightly as Margrave Gottwald strode into the hangar, his orange eyes glaring at her and his hand resting on the handle of his gun. "His Highness will be here in a few moments, girl," he said.

"Well, it ain't gonna matter 'cause I'm still not gonna tell him shit," Tara sneered. "And I am gonna get out of here, no matter what."

"Oh really?" Prince Lelouch's cool voice said and Tara turned her head to find the prince striding toward him with his Knight, his Royal Guard, and...was that Princess Cornelia?...at his side. "You sure are confident that you can do that."

"I got this far, didn't I?" Tara said.

"And you were still caught. Did you honestly think that I would let you escape? Especially after you tried to kill my little sister?"

"That useless bitch is better off dead."

Gottwald snarled in fury, cracking his knuckles and looking like he would very much want to stick a bullet in her head or break her neck.

Princess Cornelia looked like she was about ready to pull out her sidearm and pepper her with bullets.

Judging by the dark look on the Demon Prince's face, Tara wouldn't be surprised if he was entertaining those thoughts himself. She just lifted her head and said coolly, "Well, why don't ya kill me? 'cause I ain't gonna stop insulting your bitch of a sister anytime soon."

The prince's jaw clenched but he said nothing to her. Instead, he turned to the two that were keeping her pinned to the ground. "We will speak in the interrogation chamber. Bring her," he said.

"Yes, Your Highness," the two Black Knights said and, grabbing Tara's arms, they yanked her to her feet before following the prince as he led the way down the hall with his Knight at his side. Gottwald and the rest of the prince's Royal Guard flanked and brought up the rear of the group.

When they got to the interrogation chamber, Tara was thrown into a chair and her arms were handcuffed behind her back. With a wave of his hand as he took a seat across from her, Prince Lelouch dismissed the two Black Knights.

"Jeremiah, I want you and my Royal Guard to wait outside as well. Cornelia, please join them," Prince Lelouch said.

"Your Highness?" Gottwald said, frowning at him while Cornelia, narrowing her eyes, nodded shortly, though it was clear she wasn't happy.

"I will be fine. My Knight will remain with me."

Fool. Do you honestly think that I can't handle your Knight? With my Geass, I can take him out easily, Tara thought.

Gottwald glared at her. "If you harm His Highness, I will, personally, be the one to execute you," he spat and strode out of the room.

"Good luck with that," Tara called after him before the door to the interrogation chamber slid shut. She then turned her dark gaze to the prince, preparing to activate her Geass but, before she could, Prince Lelouch locked eyes with her.

The last thing Tara saw was the smug smirk on the Demon Prince's lips and then everything went dark.

. . .

A smug smirk crossed Lelouch's lips as he activated his Geass the instant he made eye contact with Tara and he already knew the order that he would give her. Since he could only use his Geass on someone once, he was going to ensure that his command was one that he could use to his advantage. "You will obey every single one of my commands whenever I say your name, Tara," he stated firmly, watching as Tara stiffened, eyes widening as the ring of red appeared around her irises.

Suzaku glanced sharply at him but Lelouch ignored the look as he leaned back.

"Yes, Your Highness," Tara said monotonously.

"My first command, Tara, you will answer all of my questions truthfully," Lelouch said.

"As you command, Your Highness."

"Why did you try to kill Nunnally?" Lelouch said because that was one of the most pressing questions on his mind.

Tara shrugged. "Because she is a member of the Royal Family and an easy target," she said.

Lelouch's jaw clenched and his eyes flashed. "Why do you seek to kill her because of her connection to the Royal Family?"

"Because Emperor Charles destroyed my village and killed my family and I want revenge. B.B. told me that I could get at the Emperor if I killed his children so that's what I decided to do," Tara said.

B.B. Lelouch recalled what he had told him about his last meeting with Tara, about trying to talk her out of going after Nunnally but she refused to listen to him. It would appear that she really was stuck in her stubborn mindset that all members of the Royal Family, even those that didn't have very much, if any, power of their own in terms of governing the country, were her enemy and needed to die.

"Who sent you?" Lelouch asked.

"No one," Tara said monotonously. "I set upon this path of my own accord."

"B.B. said that he was the one who sent you after Clovis. Was he not the one who ordered that?"

"Yes and no."

"Why?"

"He wanted to go after Clovis to send a message to the Emperor and I chose to take that mission of my own accord."

"And Nunnally?"

"Chose to go after her of my own accord. B.B. had nothing to do with that." She said that part almost defensively and Lelouch detected something underneath the monotonous tone; sadness and faint traces of love. "He tried to talk me out of it."

Hmm, matches up to what B.B. told me after Nunnally regained her eyesight, Lelouch thought. Speaking of B.B., he still had, as of yet, to find him and he knew he was going to have to do that soon since there were still several questions that he had that B.B. refused to answer. Besides, he also wanted to know if it would be possible to gain B.B. as an ally to use to achieve his own ends. After all, he hated the Emperor and there was no denying that Lelouch hated the Emperor as well. He had Suzaku and his Royal Guard but to actually come across someone who felt the same way for the Emperor as he did?

And what did he mean by the Emperor's brother? And knowing him before Charles even took the throne?

Lelouch pushed those questions out of his mind and focused on what else he wanted to ask Tara, about her Geass power. "What about your power? What is it?" he said.

Tara's brow furrowed. "It's called Absolute Kinesis," she said monotonously. "It allows me to use my mind to move anything that I want but I can't use it too often or else I get a severe migraine and run the risk of having a brain aneurysm."

Lelouch hummed in thought, briefly wondering if his own Geass had any side effects like that. So far, he hadn't noticed any on his end; on the end of the person he used it on, the memory loss of slightly before and during the time Geass was used on him or her was a side effect. He'd have to make a mental note to look into that a bit more.

He watched as she blinked, the red ring around her irises vanishing as he remained silent, most likely because he hadn't asked her any questions so her brain was acknowledging that he had no more questions and no further orders at the moment. At least, that was what he assumed. He would have to test to see if Tara was still affected by his Geass command though.

Tara shook her head and glared at him. "Well, I don't know why you're so smug all of a sudden," she said coolly. "But I'm gonna get outta here and you ain't gonna stop me." Her eye began to glow.

"Tara, you will remain in that seat until I tell you that you can stand up and leave," Lelouch said coolly and watched as the red ring appeared around Tara's irises and she remained in her seat, looking faintly confused about why she wasn't moving as the red ring vanished. Hmm, so it is still affecting her. I can use this, Lelouch thought with a cool smirk.

Tara scowled at him. "I don't know what you plan on doing but I ain't gonna answer your questions and I am gonna get out of here," she spat.

Lelouch continued to gaze at her as he ran over his next set of orders in his mind and a sly smirk crossed his lips. "Suzaku, nothing that is said in this room leaves this room, understand?" he said.

Suzaku frowned at him but nodded once. "Yes, my prince," he said, his brow furrowing in confusion and concern, especially when Lelouch leaned closer to Tara and, after uttering her name, murmured his next order.

. . .

What is he planning on doing? Suzaku thought, listening to the few orders that Lelouch was giving the aqua-haired girl who was under the influence of his Geass power. Suzaku still didn't approve of that power. It was stripping someone of their free will and that was something that Suzaku wouldn't wish upon anyone, even Tara though she had tried to kill Nunnally. But he also knew that there was no point in arguing with Lelouch over it; if Lelouch wanted to use the power that he had been given then who was Suzaku to stop him?

Besides, he had sworn his loyalty to Lelouch and he couldn't back out on that oath now. He was supposed to protect and defend his prince with his life if necessary. Not only that but Suzaku owed Lelouch more than he could ever repay and he would do everything in his power to keep his prince safe, even if it meant going along with whatever scheme his prince had thought up. His prince was a strategical and tactical genius, able to come up with surefire plans that could turn a hopeless situation into a great victory—Sapporo being a prime example of that—and he always knew what he was doing. He never did anything without a reason, even if Suzaku doubted he would ever truly figure out what the reason for his actions involving Tara were.

At least the last command that Lelouch gave Tara was one that Suzaku could understand.

"And, finally, Tara, you will never try to harm, harm, try to kill, or kill Nunnally vi Britannia or any other living being ever again," Lelouch said firmly.

"Yes, Your Highness," Tara said monotonously.

"Good. Suzaku, bring Jeremiah in here. I have no further questions for this prisoner so he may escort her back to her cell," Lelouch said calmly, standing up.

"Yes, my prince," Suzaku said with a bow before he turned and left the soundproof interrogation chamber, informing Jeremiah of his prince's orders.

As Jeremiah slipped into the camber, Suzaku found himself under the critical eye of Cornelia li Britannia. He shifted a little uncomfortably as she studied him. "Was there something you needed, Your Highness?" he asked politely.

Princess Cornelia continued to study him. "Not from you, Sir Kururugi," she said, the word 'sir' was coupled with a slight twist of her lips. It was clear that she didn't approve of him anymore than Jeremiah did but that was to be expected. Suzaku was still trying to prove himself to the Britannians as a whole and, so far, it wasn't going quite that well and Cornelia was obviously among those who didn't believe an Honorary Britannian should have been given such an honor.

Suzaku knew that was going to be the case for a while, until the system was changed at the very least so he would deal with it until such a time came. Changing the system wasn't something that can happen overnight after all.

Jeremiah came out of the interrogation chamber, escorting a scowling Tara behind him, and Lelouch followed them, his face an apathetic mask. Tara twisted her head around to glare daggers at Lelouch who completely ignored her.

"What did you find out?" Cornelia asked.

"She wasn't sent by anyone. She acted of her own accord; however, she was working with someone who was the reason why she went after Clovis last year."

"Why did she go after Nunnally?"

Lelouch gave Cornelia the rough summary of his conversation with Tara, leaving out his Geass power and never once mentioning the other orders that he'd given to Tara. Suzaku realized that he was likely the only one, aside from Lelouch himself, who knew about Lelouch's Geass power or about the control he had over the assassin who also had a powerful Geass power of her own. But it was clear that Lelouch didn't want anyone else to know or, at the very least, didn't want Cornelia to know; otherwise, either he would have told her about his Geass or he would have let her sit in on the interrogation.

"I see." Cornelia's jaw clenched. "This B.B. character...how do we know he won't try again now that you're Viceroy?"

"There is a very strong chance that he will, because of my reputation if nothing else," Lelouch said.

"Isn't that big of a change considering you already have one psycho after your head," Tadashi mused.

"What?!" Cornelia exclaimed.

Lelouch gave the burnt-orange-haired young man a withering glare. "She did not know about that, Warrant Officer," he said coolly.

"Oh, uh, whoops?"

"Lelouch, explain," Cornelia said firmly, resting her hands on her hips and glaring at her younger half-brother, though Suzaku was positive there was a glimmer of concern in her indigo eyes.

Lelouch seemed to have noticed it as well because he said reassuringly, "It's nothing to concern yourself over, Nellie. I am not the first member of the Royal Family to have made an enemy and I am not incapable of taking care of myself."

Cornelia hummed but it was clear that she still wasn't exactly happy with his answer. She, apparently, decided to let it go as she brought up another topic, one that Suzaku wondered why she wanted to know. "I do have something else that I wanted to ask you," she said and, nodding her head in Suzaku's direction, she asked, "Why did you choose a Number to be your Knight of Honor?"

"Why?" Lelouch mused. "Various reasons. First and foremost being that I trust him far more than I trust anyone else, except Nunnally. No offense to my Royal Guard intended."

"None taken," Rayne said with a shrug. She, like the rest of Lelouch's Royal Guard, knew of just how hard, almost downright impossible, it was to earn Lelouch's trust. It was only because of the invasion that Suzaku had earned his prince's trust.

"Why do you trust him so much?" Cornelia asked, keeping her voice level but Suzaku could hear a faint puzzlement in her tone.

"He saved my life and Nunnally's life too many times to count, especially during the invasion," Lelouch said simply and turned as Jeremiah rejoined them. "I'm heading back to Ashford Academy. You may accompany me if you wish, Nellie. I suspect that you'll want to pick up Euphie anyway." He walked away without another word and Suzaku quickly darted to walk at his right side.

"Lelouch, when we get back to the palace, can we talk in private?" Suzaku asked quietly to avoid being overheard by the Second Princess who was walking behind them next to Jeremiah. He wanted to talk with his friend about those orders he'd given Tara and why he'd given them; the last one he understood but he didn't understand the others.

Lelouch cast a sidelong glance at him and nodded once as they kept on walking.

. . .

Kozuki Resistance's Temporary Base, Shinjuku Ghetto

B.B. straightened in his seat beside the window as he felt a faint stirring within the World of C, coming along the link he still had with his old contractor. Even though he'd freed Tara from her obligation to fulfill his wish, he was still linked with her and, as such, he was able to feel when Geass was used on her. And that was exactly what he'd just felt.

But why do I care?

B.B. knew the reason why. A small part of him did still care about what happened to his old contractor. He had known that Tara was heading down a path that would only lead to a tragic future for her from the moment she made the decision to go after Nunnally. He didn't need his old Geass power to know that; it was obvious, especially considering how Britannia dealt with assassins who try to harm or kill members of the Royal Family. Half-commoner blood aside, Nunnally was a member of the Royal Family and Tara wasn't anywhere near important enough to be kept alive.

But that just brought with it another question.

Why is Tara still alive?

Information. That was the obvious guess. Prince Lelouch likely wanted information out of her. Once she ran out of information to give, or just refused to give it out no matter what kind of interrogation techniques the Britannians used on her, she would outlive her usefulness to the country. And then she would be killed.

But it'd already been three weeks and she was still alive.

But she also just had Geass used on her so B.B. speculated that could be the reason why she was still alive.

It was just pure speculation, really. B.B. didn't have any answers whatsoever and he knew that he couldn't get any because the only way he could was either through Tara herself or by speaking with the prince himself. Both options weren't exactly viable at the moment. It was doubtful that Tara would even speak to him after their falling out and Prince Lelouch wasn't likely to speak to him unless he gave him the answers that he sought the last time they spoke.

B.B. honestly didn't even have to remain where he was. He could leave at any time but the only reason why he was staying was because of that girl Kallen.

B.B. had been observing Kallen from afar whenever the red-head girl came to visit. She hadn't come by as often since the Shinjuku Incident five days ago but, in the days leading up to that incident, she had come by as often as possible whenever she could get out of school. During those days, B.B. had studied her; her fiery temper, her skills as a knightmare pilot, her hatred of Britannia—especially General Andon who killed her brother—her desire to liberate Japan and fulfill her brother's dream. She was a determined, fiery, skilled young woman and B.B. was drawn to her, much in the same way he'd been drawn to Tara.

She had the potential to be a contractor.

But he needed to approach this carefully. He couldn't afford to make a rash decision again, not after what happened with both Tara and the princess. He needed to know that she was truly capable of fulfilling his wish when the time came.

And he honestly didn't even know if she would accept.

It would be interesting to see just what her power would end up being if she did accept, B.B. mused, watching as the door to the temporary base opened and the person he was thinking about made her way into the base.

At the moment, he was the only one there as the others were helping Michal and Reyes set up things for the Yamato Alliance's attack on the Weapons Depot on Thursday. It was clear that even if they hadn't officially joined the Liberators, they were working well with Michal and Reyes. B.B. wouldn't be surprised if the Kozuki Resistance did end up joining the Liberators after they achieved their end of the deal with Unity.

Granted, capturing the Demon Prince, the current Viceroy of Area 11, was not going to be easy at best and downright impossible at worst.

He briefly wondered if he could, somehow, find a way to help them out but decided against it. They had been so focused on fulfilling their end of their bargain with Michal that they had forgotten why he was there to begin with. Another reason why he stayed was because he really was curious to know whether the Kozuki Resistance would actually fulfill their side of their bargain with Unity.

"Damn it. I've been trying to get your attention for the past few minutes," Kallen's voice snapped B.B. out of his thoughts and he turned his amber gaze to her. She was glaring at him with her arms folded across her chest, her blue eyes narrowed.

"Sorry. Was lost in my thoughts. What can I do for you?" he asked patiently.

"Where is everyone?" Kallen asked.

"Helping set up everything for Thursday. They've decided to observe from a distance because, according to Susumu, the Yamato Alliance leader—never did get his name nor do I care enough to learn it really—has a plan that won't so much as lead to a battle as a, sort of, hostage situation."

"What're you talking about?"

B.B. explained what he overheard earlier that day while Kallen was at Ashford Academy.

Kallen shook her head. "Bastards," she muttered. "Well, I guess I'll just have to wait 'till they get back."

"Why?"

"Found out something interesting at Ashford that I think Michal and Reyes will wanna know."

B.B. hummed, raising an eyebrow, but he said nothing as he watched Kallen sit down. Remembering that he wanted to learn more about Kallen before approaching her with the offer of Geass, he broke the silence. "May I ask you something?" he said.

Kallen, who was sprawled out on the ratty old armchair with her legs curled under her and her arm resting on the back of the chair, glanced at him. "What?" she said.

"What do you think of Princess Nunnally?" B.B. asked patiently after swiftly going over the possible questions that he could ask to ascertain the information he wanted to know.

Kallen narrowed her eyes. "Why do you wanna know?"

"Just curious. You attend school with her after all."

Kallen didn't believe him. He could see that in her eyes but she answered anyway. "She's a sweetheart and very friendly. Even with everything that's happened to her, she still able to smile and, in turn, make everyone around her smile too."

B.B. hummed. "And yet she's Britannian and a member of the Royal Family of the very country who invaded Japan."

Kallen scowled. "Just 'cause she's Britannian and a member of the Royal Family doesn't mean that she's like 'em," she snapped. "I don't care about that 'cause I've come to know her for who she truly is as a person, not as a Britannian. She, like the Student Council, is not like the typical Britannian who treats Numbers like crap all the time."

B.B. smiled and inclined his head. "Very good answer, Kallen," he said. "I am glad that you are able to see the shades of gray in this conflict. Not everything is clear cut black and white but so very few people are able to actually notice that."

Kallen blinked at him in confusion. "Um...thanks?" she said uncertainly.

"That was a compliment, Kallen," B.B. said and returned his gaze to the window.

. . .

Viceroy's Office, Viceroy's Palace

After visiting with Nunnally, and reassuring her that he was all right, Lelouch headed back to the Viceroy's Palace. Euphie had decided to move into the clubhouse a day early to comfort Nunnally since Lelouch had his duties to return to—something that Nunnally understood, even if she wanted him to stay—and Cornelia had agreed. When they reached his office, Cornelia stopped. "I will take my leave now if there is nothing important that requires my attention," she said.

Lelouch waved for her to go, smirking inwardly at the fact that he did, indeed, have the power to order his elder half-sister around. He wasn't going to take advantage of that, well, not entirely anyway. "Go ahead. I don't plan on doing much myself. I believe I have the rest of today free myself," he said.

Cornelia inclined her head once in acknowledgment before she turned around and strode away.

Lelouch walked into his office with Suzaku following him. He had been telling Cornelia the truth. The only thing he had to do was talk with Suzaku, likely over what happened during the interrogation. He was sure that his Knight wanted to question him about the orders he'd given to Tara.

He'd dismissed his Royal Guard, having only Jeremiah and Kay remain with him to guard him just in case outside the door. They were taking up positions on either side of his door while Suzaku, as always, remained at his side.

Which was probably a good thing considering just who was in Lelouch's office when he entered it.

"Oh, good, you're back. I was wondering just when you would return."

Seated on the arm of his armchair with a slice of cheese pizza in her hands and an apathetic look in her eyes was the green-haired woman from Shinjuku, the same one that gave Lelouch his Geass power, the same woman who was also shot in the head.

"Lelouch, is that the same girl from Shinjuku or am I hallucinating?" Suzaku asked, staring at the girl in shock.

"If you are then I am too," Lelouch said.

"I can hear everything you're saying, boyo, and, no, you are not hallucinating," the girl said with a shrug.

"How are you…?"

"...still alive?" The girl shrugged and smirked. "So how do you like the power that I gave you?"

Lelouch narrowed his eyes. "So it was you," he murmured.

"You don't like it?" the girl asked.

"Oh, no," Lelouch said dismissively, walking over to his desk and leaning against it. "It has definitely come in handy recently and speeds along my plans very well."

"Your plans?" the greenette raised an eyebrow.

Lelouch smirked but said nothing more, the smirk fading and his eyes narrowing even more. "Who are you exactly?" he said.

"I am C.C.," the girl said.

Lelouch raised an eyebrow. "Any relation to B.B.?" he asked.

C.C. scowled. "You've come into contact with him?" she growled and the scorn was clear in her tone of voice. It was clear that she obviously didn't like B.B.

"I take it you two know each other," Lelouch said.

"Unfortunately," C.C. said, finishing off her slice of pizza. "And have hated each other for a long time. But that's not important." She hopped off the armchair and wandered toward the door to the office.

Lelouch quickly grabbed her arm. "What are you doing? You can't just waltz right out of here like this," he snapped.

"Well, do you expect me to sleep in your office?" C.C. drawled, raising an eyebrow.

Lelouch scowled in frustration. "How did you even get in here without anyone noticing?"

"I have my ways."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"But it is an answer." C.C. pulled her arm from his grip. "Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to go to sleep. Your room will do just nicely."

"You are not staying in my room," Lelouch snapped, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "Just take the guest room next to mine for now and, for God's sake, use the side door so I don't have to answer questions about why there's a strange girl in my office."

C.C. hummed but headed for the side door anyway, disappearing through it.

Lelouch leaned back against his desk, gazing up at the ceiling of his office.

"Lelouch, what are you going to do? Are you really just going to let her stay here? And how in the world did she survive?" Suzaku said in puzzlement.

"I don't know. I really have no choice if I don't want people questioning just where she came from. And I have no clue," Lelouch answered, lowering his head and pushing away from his desk. "I'll just have to deal with that later." Not like he had much of a choice; besides, if that girl could hand out Geass then it would be best if he kept her close to him lest she fall into the hands of his enemies.

He also had a lot of question that he wanted answers to and hoped that this girl would answer them.

But he pushed that thought away for now and turned his attention to Suzaku. "You said you wanted to talk," he said.

"Oh, right," Suzaku said. It was clear the sudden appearance of that green-haired girl had made him momentarily forget that. "Those orders you gave Tara...why did you give those to her?"

"Do you honestly think I was just going to let an assassin leave? Even if I ordered her to not harm or kill another living being, I am not stupid enough to let someone who has her kind of power just waltz right out of here, especially not when she has the capability to escape. That was my insurance, my way of insuring that I have some measure of control over her or, more specifically, her power."

Suzaku stared at Lelouch as if he'd grown a second head. "Are you crazy? I mean I understand that last order but the others? Were they really necessary?"

Lelouch raised an eyebrow. "I believe that's already an established fact, Suzaku," he said and turned his gaze to the window. "They were insurance orders just in case. I am not taking chances with that girl but her connection with B.B. will prove to be...helpful."

"Why?"

Lelouch didn't answer. He knew the only reason why he wanted to speak with B.B. again was because of their shared hatred of the Emperor. They hadn't parted on good terms but Lelouch hadn't exactly been in the right frame of mind when he first spoke with B.B., considering his little sister had nearly been assassinated and then had her sight restored by B.B. He hoped that they would be able to speak like civilized people if he could find him again.

Even if Tara had a falling out with B.B., Lelouch had noticed the way she spoke of B.B. It was faint but it was there. She cared for him and he was planning on exploiting that to draw him out.

Suzaku walked to Lelouch's side. "I don't approve of you using her like this, Lelouch," he said.

"She's lucky I didn't put a bullet through her brain, Suzaku," Lelouch said coolly, casting an icy glare at his Knight, though it wasn't directed at him.

Suzaku shivered, even though he knew that it wasn't him that Lelouch was angry with, and looked away. "Lelouch, is it really necessary to use this power of yours?" he said finally. "Are you really just okay with taking away everyone's free will?"

"Suzaku, what do you take me for? Do you honestly think I would use this power on everyone I come across? Have I used it on you? Or my Royal Guard? Or any of my men?" The truth was that he hadn't; frankly, he had made the decision a few days ago that he would only ever use his Geass when it became necessary. After all, he had planned to destroy Britannia before he'd obtained Geass and he'd started gaining the resources and allies that he would need to achieve his goal, as well as the reputation and political and military power that would aid him in his quest, before he'd obtained Geass.

"Have you?" Suzaku asked.

Lelouch jerked as if slapped and snapped his head around to glare at Suzaku. "Do you honestly just ask me that question, Suzaku?" he asked quietly, narrowing his eyes. "You swore your loyalty to me months before I got this power. My Royal Guard swore their loyalty to me months before I got this power. Do you truly think I would betray that loyalty by stripping any of you of your free will? Do you truly think so lowly of me?" He wouldn't admit it out loud but he was hurt by his best friend's suspicions. Even if he was the Demon Prince, even if he did have the power to take over someone's mind, he wasn't cruel enough to use it on his own followers, who were already willing to die for him if necessary. Suzaku was a prime example of that; he'd been nearly killed trying to protect Lelouch, twice.

Suzaku was silent for a long moment. "I'm sorry," he said finally. "I shouldn't have asked something like that. I just...this power...I'm having a hard time coming to terms with it and just what it does."

"It's not as if you're the only one, Suzaku," Lelouch said finally, turning his gaze back to the window. "I believe loyalty is something that someone must earn, not something that should be forced upon someone. I would rather someone choose to follow me, choose to follow my orders, than someone who is forced to follow me or my orders." He has always been that way, which was why he knew that he would never use his Geass to strip his Knight, Royal Guard, and men of their free will; he wanted them to follow and obey his orders of their own free will. Those kinds of bonds were much stronger and more difficult to break by treachery and it was those kinds of bonds that Lelouch needed if he wanted to ever destroy Britannia and get his revenge.

But he kept those thoughts to himself.

Suzaku nodded slowly. "I can respect that," he said. "I don't approve of this power, as I already told you, but..." He trailed off and shook his head. "Never mind."

"What?" Lelouch turned to his friend, raising an eyebrow. "What were you going to say?"

"It's nothing, my prince."

"Suzaku, we're alone. You don't have to refer to me as that when we're alone. Nor do you need to keep from speaking your mind. I've already told you that." Lelouch knew that his Knight was trying so hard to get Britannia to accept him, to prove that he was worthy of his position, worthy of being Lelouch's Knight, that he was forcing himself to act as a Knight even while they were in private. This conversation was one of the few times in recent weeks in which Suzaku had slipped up.

"Suzaku, if you want to tell me something then just tell me," Lelouch added in exasperation when Suzaku remained silent.

He still remained silent before he finally said, "I can't stop you from using this power, Lelouch, but...will you, at the very least, only use it when it's absolutely necessary?"

Lelouch hummed. "I was already planning on doing that, Suzaku," he said, now understanding why Suzaku hadn't wanted to voice his thought earlier. A Knight asking his prince to do something could be seen as disrespectful, once again highlighting just how much Suzaku was taking his role seriously in trying to always treat his prince with respect, even when they were in private. Either that or Suzaku just thought his request was disrespectful and, in the eyes of the vast majority of the Britannian nobility and the members of the Royal Family, it was.

Suzaku nodded slowly, a brief gleam of gratitude in his eyes before it faded. "At least Nunnally's safe," he said.

"She will remain safe as long as I have anything to say about it," Lelouch said, his gaze going back to the window and the cityscape that rolled out in front of him.

. . .

March 28, 2017

Meeting Room, Student Council Clubhouse

Nunnally was wheeled into the meeting room of the clubhouse by Adeline, looking around when she noticed that it was rather empty. She blinked, wondering if she was early for the meeting that Milly was holding that day. Two days had gone by since Nunnally's near breakdown after learning that Tara had escaped; even though she now knew that Tara was back in jail, that incident had triggered her nightmares to return. She was really thankful that she could see again because it meant that she wasn't waking up to darkness whenever she pulled herself out of her nightmares.

Euphie being there helped very much. Even though they didn't have the same classes, since Euphie was in the high school division while Nunnally was still in the middle school division, they did share the same apartment and, for the past two nights, the same bedroom. Nunnally was grateful that Euphie was willing to stay with her; usually, it was her big brother who comforted her when she woke up from bad dreams but she knew that Lelouch was very busy. That was why he hadn't been able to visit her the past two days, and she wasn't going to burden him by forcing him to drop his duties in order to take care of her

She didn't want to be a worthless, useless burden anymore.

Even now, Tara's hurtful words felt like slaps to the face and Nunnally knew that it was likely she was never going to really forget them.

But she honestly had no clue of just how she was going to stop being a burden for her big brother or for anyone.

She wanted to be helpful, to stop being a burden and actually be able to help others rather than them always helping her, but she honestly had no idea how.

At least my therapy sessions with Mrs. Harper seem to be working, at least a little bit, she thought.

"Huh, looks like we're here first," Adeline commented, wheeling Nunnally over to the table.

Nunnally hadn't exactly been in the meeting room often since the assassination attempt over three weeks ago but when the clean up and repairs had been finished, she decided to give it a chance. She still didn't feel entirely comfortable in the meeting room by herself though, which was why she was grateful that Adeline was always with her. She liked Adeline; the golden-haired young woman was really nice and took her job as Nunnally's bodyguard seriously but also had a mischievous side that reminded Nunnally of Milly. It was a no wonder that those two got along as well as they did.

"Yeah," she said quietly as Adeline rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a couple of books. Now that Nunnally could see again, she had decided that she wanted to read actual books, not the Braille books that she had been reading, and she found that she enjoyed it a lot more.

"You okay, Nunnally?" Adeline asked as Nunnally flipped open the book to the page that she had left off on the night before.

"Fine. Just a bit tired. I didn't get much sleep last night," Nunnally said.

"Oh, why not?"

"Nightmares."

"Oh." Adeline pulled out a chair next to her and sat down. "Want to talk about 'em? My uncle always used to tell me that talking about nightmares helps a lot."

Nunnally smiled. "That's what my therapist says too." She turned her gaze to her book but didn't really see the words as she said, "I was dreaming about what happened three weeks ago, except that I kept seeing you or members of the Student Council or Big Brother being in Briana's place and I saw it all. I didn't just hear it like I did three weeks ago, I actually saw it." And I am beyond grateful that I didn't get my sight back until after that incident, she thought.

Adeline placed a hand on Nunnally's shoulder. "They're all safe and alive, Nunnally," she said, a soft, sad, understanding half-smile on her lips. "Your nightmares can't hurt you. They're just dreams. They'll go away eventually. It might take a while but they will go away."

"I hope so," Nunnally said.

The door to the meeting room opened and Nunnally and Adeline looked up as Rai poked his silver-haired head into the room. "Where is everyone?" he asked as he made his way into the room. Nunnally had to force herself to relax; she still wasn't completely comfortable around Rai, despite him being incredibly kind, but she was much more comfortable now than she was three weeks ago.

"I think they're running late," Adeline said.

"Oh." Rai sat down at the table and the three of them fell into an awkward silence. Rai was gazing at the table, a small frown on his lips, while Adeline was flipping through the other book that Nunnally wasn't reading at the moment. Nunnally read a few paragraphs of the book but the awkward silence was starting to bother her.

I can try talking to him. Just ask him how his day was. He's not going to hurt you and you've got Adeline if he does, Nunnally told herself, taking a deep breath and lifting her head to look at Rai.

"Um, how was your day, Rai?" she asked.

Rai tore his gaze away from the table to look at Nunnally with curious bright blue eyes. "Oh, uh, it was fine. How was yours?" he asked.

"Okay," Nunnally said.

Rai was silent for a long moment, then he said, "You don't like me, do you?"

Nunnally blinked in surprise, noticing faint hurt but also resignation in his eyes, his kind, innocent eyes. "No, it's not that I don't like you, Rai," she said, "I just...you're new and Tara was new and..." She trailed off.

"You're afraid of me and don't trust me because you think I'm gonna be like Tara because I'm new to the Student Council," Rai said. He didn't sound accusatory nor did he sound angry or upset, he sounded very matter-of-fact. "It's okay, though. I can understand that. I'd probably feel the same way if I were in your position." He gave her a gentle smile that Nunnally found herself returning.

"I am sorry," she said. "I'm trying, really, but..."

"It's okay," Rai said again. "No one gets over a traumatic experience right away. Sometimes it takes years but I was always that so long as you remember the good things in life, it can help you to come to terms with the bad." He then frowned, his brow furrowed in puzzlement. "I...don't remember who told me that though."

Nunnally was reminded that Rai was still suffering from amnesia. "Well, whoever told you that is pretty smart," she commented, paused for a moment and added, "And...they're right."

At least I'm able to talk with him. He really is nice, not at all like Tara, she thought.

"Yeah..." Rai trailed off and shook his head as if clearing his thoughts. "I just wish I could remember who told me that." He sounded sad as he said that.

Nunnally chewed on her lower lip, finding herself relaxing in Rai's presence for the first time since he joined the Student Council. She then said, "I'm sure you'll get your memories back soon."

"I hope so." Rai fell silent.

They were both silent for several minutes before Rai's gaze fell on Nunnally's book."What're you reading?"

Nunnally lifted the book up to show Rai the title. He blinked and smiled a little, recognition in his eyes. "I've read that series. I don't remember where or when but I'm positive I've read it before. I wish I could remember what it was about though. I'm surprised I remember reading it though." His brow furrowed in puzzlement again.

"Want me to give you a summary?" Nunnally offered almost shyly. He seemed to remember the series and that was a step in the right direction of regaining his memories and Nunnally found herself wanting to help him. She was still a tad bit uncomfortable around him, something that was likely not going to go way for a while yet, but she did want to help others so she decided that this was a good start.

"Um, sure," Rai said.

Nunnally smiled and slowly began to summarize the book series that she was reading.

. . .

Milly approached the meeting room, shifting her grip on the folders in her hands, with the rest of the Student Council behind her, about an hour after the original meeting time. As she neared it, she was surprised when she heard laughter on the other side of the door and paused for a moment.

"You're kidding," Rai's voice said.

"Nope. He spent a good three hours in that tree just trying to avoid them," Nunnally's voice said, giggling.

Rai laughed again. "Why do I have this odd feeling Milly was behind that?" he said.

"Well, afterwards, he came into the meeting room, glared at Milly, called her a She-Devil, and then stalked off to his seat so it probably was her fault," Nunnally said.

Rai chuckled and then asked curiously, "Is she really a She-Devil? She seems really nice to me."

"She is. Big Brother calls her a She-Devil but I know he's not saying it to be mean or anything and Milly doesn't mind it," Nunnally said.

"What about the others? Has anything funny ever happened to them? Well...other than the kitchen incident two days ago."

"Well..." Nunnally was silent for a long moment. "Oh, yeah, I remember something that happened with Shirley and the giant pizza that Milly keeps trying to make."

"Giant...pizza?"

"Yeah. Anyway, Shirley kinda tripped, rolled down the hill, and crashed into Big Brother and both of them end up in the pizza sauce after it had been spread on the dough," Nunnally said.

Milly grinned at that memory, casting a sidelong glance at Shirley who'd gone red with embarrassment.

Rai burst out laughing. "Please tell me someone got pictures of that," he gasped.

"I'm positive Milly did. She hasn't shown 'em to me yet though."

Rai chuckled and the meeting room fell silent for a long moment before Rai broke it. "Hey, Nunnally?"

"Hmm? Yeah, Rai?"

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"Just...thanks."

Another moment of silence.

"Thank you too, Rai."

"For what?"

A soft giggle. "Just...thanks."

Milly decided, as the meeting room fell silent again, that now was the perfect time to intervene. "Hello early birds," she said cheerfully as she strode into the meeting room, grinning at Nunnally and Rai. Both of them were sitting across from each other at the table; Nunnally was folding some origami cranes while Rai was reading through one of Nunnally's books. Adeline was reading a book by Nunnally but lifted her head at the sound of Milly's voice.

Milly smirked wickedly at Rai and added, "By the way, Rai, I outta warn ya. Lelouch is one of them extremely overprotective older brothers so if you're gonna try and court Nunnally, fair warning, you should try hard to get on Lelouch's good side first."

Rai went red and he started sputtering. "It's..that...I wasn't...what?"

Nunnally's own cheeks were slightly red and she shook her head. "Oh, yeah, that's why Big Brother calls Milly a She-Devil," she said.

Euphie, who was the last one to step into the meeting room, tilted her head to the side. "Lelouch has a good side?" she echoed.

"You make it sound like he's evil, Euphie," Nunnally said with a faint smile as Euphie sat down on her other side.

"Well, when it comes to potential boyfriends for you, I'm pretty sure Lelouch will turn into the Devil Incarnate," Milly said, grinning as she strode around the table and flopped into the seat at the head of it, dropping the folders as she did so.

"So sorry we were so late," she added. "Though I did text Adeline to tell her that our meeting was going to be an hour late."

Adeline blinked, reached into her pocket, and pulled out her phone. "Huh, I didn't hear my phone go off," she said, stuffing the phone back into her pocket.

"Well, no biggie. At least Nunnally and Rai got to have some semi-alone time," Milly said with a grin.

Rai's already red cheeks went redder. "Milly!" he groaned and his head thudded against the table as Milly laughed.

"Ah, I love teasing my friends," she said happily. "Well, time to get this meeting started. It's late enough as it is. Okay, we're just gonna be finalizing everything for the annual spring festival. We have less than three weeks to get everything finalized, get all the supplies, and get everything set up. I still need to find someone to pilot the Ganymede to make the pizza. Lelouch did it last year, well, before he and Shirley ended up in the pizza." That had only happened because Lelouch had been taking a break to help out with some other duties while Rivalz and Nina had been getting some more ingredients.

"Anyway of getting Lelouch to do it?" Rivalz asked.

"He'd probably be too busy," Kallen said meekly.

"We can ask anyway," Milly said with a shrug. "That reminds me. I was thinking of going out of the settlement a week from Friday and we can all go! It'll be fun."

"I've never been out of the settlement before, well, except to go back to Pendragon but I don't think that really counts," Nunnally said.

"Well, we can ask Lelouch if you can come with," Milly said. "For now, let's get to work." She began handing out the folders, smiling inwardly as she watched Nunnally finish a blue origami crane and hand it to Rai.

Rai blinked at her but took it, quietly thanking her to which she gave him a quiet smile and went back to working on her own cranes.

Milly chuckled. At least she's warmed up to Rai, she thought, thankful because that meant that Nunnally was starting to overcome what happened three weeks ago and that was good.

. . .

March 30, 2017

Viceroy's Office, Viceroy's Palace

Lelouch yawned as he sorted through the paperwork on his desk. Four days had gone by since Tara's escape attempt and, as expected, she managed to use her Geass to get out of containment again. However, Lelouch had one of his Black Knights keeping an eye on her and it was clear that the commands he gave her were still implanted in her mind because she hadn't tried to go to Ashford Academy at all.

However, now he had to focus on his work. His first day in office had been pretty laid back but, in the days that followed, he started to get swamped with all the duties of Viceroy and commander of the Black Knights. Thankfully, with no terrorist threats at the moment, he didn't have much work with his regiment but his duties as the Viceroy, even with Cornelia's help, more than made up for his lack of military duty. It wasn't as if he wasn't expecting a lot of work when he became Viceroy, he knew that being Viceroy meant a lot of work, but that didn't mean that he enjoyed it nor did he find it particularly easy at times.

And it didn't help that he had a hell of a lot more to do now that Tara had escaped; even if he knew that was going to happen, that didn't make the paperwork and the appeasement of the public any easier.

And it was mind-numbing. Frankly, Lelouch was glad for the break in the monotonous routine of looking through, reading, and signing paperwork when a drenched and scowling Kay walked into the room with an apologizing Rayne, with a large towel in her hands, following him.

"I said I was sorry," Rayne protested. "But it was a snake. A snake!"

"It was fake," Kay said irritably.

"It didn't look fake."

"It wasn't even moving."

"So? It looked like a snake!"

Lelouch watched the entire exchange with a raised eyebrow. "Dare I ask what happened?" he said.

"Same thing as what happened at Hakodate, except, this time, it was a fake one," Kay said, taking the towel Rayne handed him.

"Oh and we have something for you, Lelouch," he added, glancing at his twin.

"Oh, right, forgot I had that. A guard gave it to us telling us that it was addressed to you. They've checked it for anything that might be dangerous but found nothing," Rayne said, removing a folded piece of paper from her uniform's pocket and, walking to his desk, handing it to him.

Lelouch took it, frowning at it but opened it up, reading it quietly to himself. It was written in kanji. Lelouch knew not very many people in Area 11 knew how to write kanji since it was banned. He figured that had been done to ensure that if the letter was intercepted, only a select few would be able to know what the letter says.

It was a risky move and, yet, a smart one as well since it played to the fact that only a small portion of the residents of Area 11 knew how to read that written language.

Granted, Lelouch had no idea how they knew that he was one of those people who could read kanji though.

Your Highness,

As you must know by know, from the last message that we sent you online, we are not the ones that sent that death threat to you. However, if you still do not believe us, let this be a show of good faith. We have information that you may want to know.

The Yamato Alliance is planning on taking the class of Britannian students, who are attending a field trip at the Weapons Depot on the northwest edge of the Tokyo Settlement, hostage. This is in order to ensure safe passage once they procure the weapons they can get from the depot, we believe. It will be at noon.

Even if you do not believe us, I have no doubt that news of the attack at the depot will reach the news quickly. We just thought, as a show of good faith, that we would give you warning ahead of time.

Yours truly,

At the end of the message was the crest of the Liberators.

Lelouch frowned at the letter. The Liberators made it clear that they did not support the Yamato Alliance's attack on the edge of the settlement, and blamed them for happened in Shinjuku before Clovis ordered that massacre. Even so, why would they tell me about this? He hummed in thought. The Liberators are rather unpredictable and mysterious. Little is actually known about them, at least, not in the media and even Dimitri hasn't been able to find much on them beyond what I already know. But, back on subject, what should I do about this?

"Your Highness?" Jeremiah asked, breaking Lelouch out of his thoughts.

He glanced at the orange-eyed young man, humming absently in acknowledgment, his mind working through possible scenarios and possible plans. He could either wait until the Yamato Alliance's attack made the news in order to confirm that the Liberators were right or send some of his own men to check out the situation. If it was going to be at noon then Lelouch suspected that there would be some signs of preparations.

Or, at the very least, he could send word to the manager of the Weapons Depot so that they could set up countermeasures should that happen.

However, if the attack was going to be at noon, which was only about two hours away, then setting up countermeasures wasn't going to work. They wouldn't have enough time, and even less time if the Yamato Alliance had members watching the depot. That might prompt the Alliance to attack sooner or later or just call off the attack all together. It depended on what they were like and Lelouch only had the Shinjuku incident, and what happened beforehand, to go on.

"Jeremiah, what do you know about the Yamato Alliance?" Lelouch asked.

"Not much, Your Highness," Jeremiah said. "They're one of the largest resistances here in Area 11, though not nearly as large as the JLF, and they have their base in the Saitama Ghetto. We did manage to kill the Yamato Alliance's old leader a couple of years ago but, since then, the Yamato Alliance has gotten rather radical and bolder. They've been known to attack places where the civilians outnumbered the soldiers and not care if the civilians get caught in the crossfire of their attacks so long as they killed the soldiers."'

Lelouch narrowed his eyes. Radical terrorists. Just what this area needs and yet radical terrorists are predicable to an extent. I may have an idea of just what they would do if I were to send word of warning to the manager of the depot, he thought. "What would they do if, hypothetically speaking, they had a plan to attack a depot at a specific time but the manager of said depot got wind of the attack beforehand and called in the military or set up countermeasures to protect them? Would they attack earlier or would they attack later? Or would they just not attack at all?"

Jeremiah looked thoughtful. "If they attack later then they would be able to lull the manager and the military into a false sense of security, which might give them the advantage," he said.

"However, if they attack earlier, it would fit in with their radical boldness," Lelouch pointed out. "We have to take into account their past actions as that will affect how they will react to this hypothetical situation."

"What about just not attacking at all, my prince? If their plans have been compromised then wouldn't they just try another day?" Suzaku said with a frown.

"Perhaps but, given how the Yamato Alliance has acted, based on Jeremiah's report, it's unlikely. It depends on just how arrogant the Yamato Alliance is," Lelouch said and stood up since he already had an idea of what would happen. If he could get there before the attack was launched then he would have the Alliance in checkmate; however, he was also keeping in mind that they were radical and bold and, if that message from the Liberators was to be believed, they were going to try to get hostages. "Jeremiah, have the Black Knights gather in the hangar. We will set out for that Weapons Depot now."

. . .

Random Building, Northwest of the Weapons Depot

Kallen peered at the Weapons Depot through her binoculars before casting a sidelong glance at Reyes who was typing away on his computer, his brow furrowed and Spanish expletives leaving his lips every now and then. Ohgi and Tamaki were sitting on either side of her, their own binoculars resting against their eyes as they observed the depot. They were currently on the roof of a building to the northwest of the Weapons Depot in the shadow of a taller building.

"There really isn't much defense around the depot," Ohgi said, lowering the binoculars. "Why wouldn't they better protect this place? Especially in light of the attack in Shinjuku."

"It's been a week since then," Michal commented. "It's possible that they have been lulled into a false sense of security. Why else would they willingly bring students on a field trip to the depot so close to the home of the very terrorist group that, supposedly, attacked Shinjuku. They possibly think that the 'supposed' terrorist group have gone to ground and they don't have to worry about them."

"Tch, arrogant Britannians," Tamaki huffed.

"I'm wondering if the Demon Prince is even going to act on that message you had Kallen send them," Inoue admitted.

Kallen remembered that. That had been rather nerve-wracking. She'd been tasked with delivering the message to the guards around the Viceroy's Palace. She had taken the day off school because she was 'ill' and gone to the palace in disguise; the last thing she wanted was for someone to recognize her. The prince would in an instant as would his Knight and his Royal Guard, since they've all met her before, but, thankfully, she was able to deliver the message and get away before anyone thought to question her on why she was delivering a message like that to the prince.

"It's possible," Michal said. "If anything, when the Yamato Alliance do attack, it will reach the news pretty quickly."

"Will it even be possible to get the prince in this instance?" Yoshida asked quietly.

"It depends entirely on what the Yamato Alliance have planned since Susumu and Taichi weren't able to get the full plan. Yasuo might be keeping some things to himself," Michal said and turned to Reyes. "Have you hacked into the surveillance system of the depot yet?"

"Almost. Damn, there are a hell of a lot of firewalls and security checkpoints that I'm struggling to get through. Wish Amber was here with us. She'd probably already be in the system by now," Reyes said with a huff and, swearing in Spanish again, went back to work.

The radio crackled to life. "Susumu to base. Do you copy?" Susumu's voice called over the radio resting next to Michal.

Michal picked it up. "I read you. How are things going on your end?" he asked. Susumu and Taichi had been tasked with watching the members of the Yamato Alliance that were preparing to move and the path that the Black Knights were likely to take if they arrived respectively.

"They are making their move. They will be arriving at the depot in about three minutes," Susumu reported.

"Got it!" Reyes said with a grin and turned his computer around to show the different screens that had popped up on the main screen. There was one on the main entryway, one in the security room, one on the main floor where the weapons were being packed to be stored—this was where the students, from the middle school division from Ashford Academy, Kallen noted, due to the uniforms they were wearing, were currently located. She was grateful that Nunnally wasn't among them—two were focused on two different storage rooms for guns and ammo and grenades and chaos mines, and the last one was on the loading bay at the back of the depot where the empty armored vehicles used to transport the weapons to the Military Base.

"Which direction are they coming in, Susumu?" Michal asked.

"North. That much I do know about the plan. They're going to slip into the loading bay during the shift change," Susumu reported.

"All right. Keep me updated, Susumu," Michal said.

"Roger," Susumu said and Michal put the radio down.

Kallen returned her gaze to the binoculars that were still studying the Weapons Depot. She couldn't see into any of the windows, as they were too small and she was too far away, but she was able to make out the human forms that were moving toward the loading bay. She turned the binoculars, watching as a group of Britannian soldiers joined the group that was already on guard and they started talking.

Something flew through the air to crash into the ground, unleashing thick noxious green smoke, and, when the smoke cleared, all six soldiers were on the ground. Kallen frowned. "They gassed them," she said.

"Knockout gas?" Minami asked.

"Maybe," Ohgi said. "But it does give them the chance to get into the bay without anyone noticing. They'll have some time before security notices something's up, five or so minutes."

Kallen watched as a large group of men in the Yamato Alliance colors headed quickly for the loading bay. "They, certainly, aren't wasting any time," she said.

"They're in the loading bay and are heading for the hall. Shame I couldn't get eyes on the halls but I can guess their destination," Reyes said.

"The main floor where the students are," Ohgi said, brow furrowed and Kallen knew that he was probably even more worried about the students than the rest of the group. Even if they were Britannians, they were still teenagers and Ohgi had once been a teacher who taught all ages so for him to be worried for the students wasn't that big of a surprise.

"They'll be fine," she said, hoping that she was right. She didn't know much about the Yamato Alliance, only what Ohgi and the others had told her, but she hoped that they weren't heartless enough to actually kill those students if something happened.

Ohgi nodded, looking like he hoped that she was right.

She did too.

. . .

Inside the Weapons Depot, Northwest of the Tokyo Settlement

She slowly edged her way further into the shadowed corner she had moved into swiftly earlier between a stack of crates and boxes filled with spare parts for the weapons and the wall. The large group of men with dark yellow headbands around their heads or necks that had stormed their way into the main floor of the Weapons Depot were herding the rest of her classmates into the heart of the floor before taking all of their phones and then, on the orders of their leader, shooting all of them.

They had hesitated for a split second, something she had noticed right away, but they still did as they were ordered.

Sheep. They did everything they were ordered to do, even if they did not agree with it.

That much was clear by that slight hesitation.

They took no pleasure in ending so many lives but their leader, clearly, didn't care.

Despite that, she still had no idea why the leader had just had everyone in the room killed.

Perhaps so there would be no witnesses? It was possible.

She watched her classmates and her teachers fall to the ground, thankful that her friend wasn't in the class that had come on that field trip. The princess would have likely been caught in the crossfire, especially since she couldn't walk.

She tried to tear her gaze from the bloody scene but she found that she couldn't. She found that the only thing she could do was watch, watch as her classmates and teachers were taken from her.

That was all she could do.

She hated that she couldn't do anything but she had her own duties to perform and, unfortunately, getting killed would not help.

So that was what she did.

Watch.

. . .

G1 Mobile Base, Southeast of the Weapons Depot

Lelouch stared in horror at the scene that had been revealed the instant Dimitri gained access to the surveillance system. The students had all been killed, every last one of them; it hadn't been a hostage situation at all, contrary to what the Liberators had said. They were just herded there like cattle to be killed all together; they were nothing more than witnesses who needed to be silenced.

"This was their plan all along," Cornelia realized from where she was standing on the left side of Lelouch's throne. Suzaku, on his right side, looked horrified and sick at the same time, his emerald eyes wide with shock. "They were never planning on using the hostages as a bargaining chip to make a clean getaway."

"They've made their last mistake," Lelouch said coolly. "Jeremiah, Kay, take your squadrons and sweep that base. Wipe out every single one of those terrorists, except the leader. I want the leader alive."

"I will aid in this," Cornelia said. "They have shed Britannian blood. I will not let that go unpunished."

"By all means, Witch of Britannia," Lelouch said, not taking his eyes off the bloody scene, very reminiscent of the invasion of Japan with the number of bodies whose wounds were staining the floor red. "Do as you like but leave the leader alive. I want him to see the consequences of his actions."

Cornelia inclined her head before she turned, called for her Knight to join her, and strode off the bridge.

"If they surrender, Your Highness, what do we do?" Kay asked.

Lelouch's eyes were still locked on the bloody scene. "Should they surrender, arrest them," he said finally. "They can try their luck in court."

"Yes, Your Highness," Kay said and saluted before darting off the bridge and Jeremiah followed suit, shouting orders to his men as he did so.

. . .

Random Building, Northwest of the Weapons Depot

Dear God, what the hell have they done? Kallen thought silently, staring in horror at the bloody scene that had appeared on Reyes's screen, at all of the innocent students that the Yamato Alliance had just slaughtered.

"Oh now I am so hoping that Prince Lelouch slaughters them all," Reyes growled, eyes flashing with fury before he began swearing in Spanish again.

"I will be cheering him on the entire time," Michal agreed darkly.

Kallen tore her gaze away from the bloody scene, feeling sick to her stomach at the massacre that she was witnessing. She took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and released it slowly but it did little to quench the nausea that she was feeling.

"I can't believe they would go that far. They killed them all...for what reason?" Inoue said.

"I don't think there was a reason or they were just following their leader's orders," Ohgi said grimly.

"That just makes it worse," Minami said.

"Yeah. I mean, I know those kids were Britannians but damn! That was just going too far," Tamaki said with a shake of his head.

"Agreed," Sugiyama said grimly.

. . .

Inside the Weapons Depot, Northwest of the Tokyo Settlement

The girl watched as the Britannians stormed the room before she curled up, drawing her knees closer to herself and burying her face into her knees. She didn't move. She just remained there, not paying much attention to what was going on around her, her blonde hair curtaining her face.

She had just decided to utilize her power to get out of there and get to help right when the Britannians attacked and, while she was thankful that they were finally there, it was still too late to save her classmates.

She was also thankful that she wouldn't have to use her power. The last thing she wanted was these terrorists to find out about it.

As the shooting finished, she slowly uncurled her legs and shakily got to her feet, her legs felt tingly, telling her that they were fast asleep.

Slowly, she made her way toward the Britannians, holding her hands up to show that she was unarmed when they turned to her.

. . .

Lelouch made his way toward the main floor of the Weapons Depot once he got confirmation that the Yamato Alliance were taken care of—none of them had surrendered, even though they had been given the chance; according to his knights, they were ordered not to surrender and, like sheep, had obeyed—the leader had been captured, and there was a survivor. Suzaku was walking on his right as usual and the rest of his Royal Guard were following him.

They entered the main floor and Lelouch grimaced as he took in the bloody scene and Suzaku's lips thinned, a horrified look still in his eyes. The Glaston Knights, Kay, and the 23rd Squadron, and Jeremiah's Squadron, formed from the remnants of the Purist Faction, were standing around the chamber. The leader of the Yamato Alliance was on his knees with Cornelia, Guilford, and Jeremiah standing around him. Kay was standing beside a girl with long blonde hair and red eyes that Lelouch figured was the survivor.

"Your Highness," Jeremiah greeted Lelouch with a salute.

"Jeremiah. This is the leader?" Lelouch said, walking over to join the terrorist leader.

"Yes, Your Highness."

"So, Demon Prince, looks like you've lived up to your name," the leader said coolly. "Slaughtering my men like this."

"Nothing less than what you deserve for murdering so many innocents here," Lelouch said coolly.

"They were simply a means to an end," the leader said with a shrug.

Lelouch's lips curled back in a scowl. "And what exactly was your end?" he said. "What could you have possible gained by doing all of this?"

"No witnesses," the leader said as if the people he had his men kill were nothing more than annoying flies to swat.

"They were innocent human beings," Suzaku said through gritted teeth.

"They were Britannians and stand in our way of liberating Japan. Not that you would know anything about liberating Japan, considering how willing you are to be the Demon Prince's bitch," the leader added.

Suzaku's jaw clenched and he looked away.

Lelouch's eyes narrowed. "I'd watch your tongue," he said.

"Why should I? I'm dead anyway. You seem rather protective of him. Does he warm your bed at night? Or are you his whore?"

Suzaku's eyes narrowed. "Do not insult my prince with such innuendos," he said and Lelouch, who was bristling himself at the innuendo, marveled at how his normally rash best friend was able to keep a hold on his temper.

"Or what? You won't do anything unless your precious whore of a master tells you to like the bitch you are," the Yamato Alliance leader mocked. It was clear that he was goading Suzaku into reacting and, judging by how Suzaku was clenching his fists, it was working.

The leader noticed this and chuckled. "See what I mean? You won't do a damn thing unless he tells you to and he won't. Some Demon Prince. I bet his whore of a sister is just like him," he said.

Lelouch's eyes flashed but, before he could react, Suzaku lunged forward, slamming a fist into the leader's face, so hard that he heard the terrorist's jaw snap, and throwing the leader off his feet. "Don't you dare insult Princess Nunnally either," Suzaku growled, lowering his fist.

"Oh ho, looks like the bitch has some bite," the leader said with a pained laugh.

Lelouch was getting tired of dealing with this bastard but he wanted to know some information. This terrorist had a reason for what he did; even if he was a psychopath who killed these students just because they were witnesses, that was a reason and Lelouch wanted to know it. And since the terrorist wasn't very forthcoming with answers, he'd have to get them the only way he could now.

But he would wait until they were alone in one of the private interrogation cells in the military base, where no one would be able to see him use his new power.

"Jeremiah, I want you and your men to escort him back to the military base and to one of the interrogation cells. Do not let him escape," Lelouch ordered.

"Yes, Your Highness," Jeremiah stated firmly and, glaring down at the terrorist, yanked him to his feet while the rest of his squadron formed up around him and they headed toward the entrance to the main floor.

Lelouch then turned, gazing at the girl who was standing, mutely, off to one side, her crimson eyes avoiding looking at the bodies. She looked vaguely familiar but he couldn't pinpoint where he'd seen her before. He walked over to join her, Suzaku mutely following, and she lifted her head before bowing. "Your Highness," she said quietly.

"You survived," Lelouch said simply. "How?"

"I hid myself as soon as the terrorists entered the building," the girl said. "It happened so fast and..." She trailed off.

"While I know it will not bring your friends, teachers, and classmates back, he will be brought to justice for the atrocity he committed here today," Lelouch said.

"I know, Your Highness. I'm just glad that he was caught," the girl said.

"What's your name?" Lelouch asked.

"My name's Alice, Your Highness, Alice Haliburton," the girl said. "You may have seen me around Ashford before since I'm in the same year as Princess Nunnally but we're in different classes."

Lelouch hummed, silently grateful that Nunnally hadn't been on that trip. He really hadn't been able to keep abreast of Nunnally's schooling due to his own work but he knew that Adeline would have contacted him about this field trip if only to inform him that it was happening.

"Kay, please escort Miss Haliburton to the G1," he said, glancing at the captain of the 23rd Squadron.

Kay nodded. "This may, Miss," he said and he and Alice left the main floor of the Weapons Depot.

. . .

Interrogation Room, Tokyo Military Base

After having the bodies in the Weapons Depot transferred out of the depot and the few severely wounded survivors transferred to the nearest hospital, Lelouch, Cornelia, and their Knights headed for the military base. Once they were outside the interrogation room in which was the Yamato Alliance's leader, Lelouch turned to Cornelia and asked her to sit the interrogation out. The last thing he wanted was for her to learn about his Geass power; she wasn't happy but she agreed, for which Lelouch was glad. Even if he could order Cornelia around, he did not want to do so all the time since he would rather have his elder half-sister as an ally and not someone who may end up resenting him because of that power he holds over her.

A power that he really didn't even want but the Emperor had given it to him for some reason so he would have to deal with it.

At least he was getting closer to having full control of Japan. Once that happened then he could start slowly going against the Emperor; it would be a long process and he was taking it slowly only because of Nunnally. So long as the Emperor knew where she was and could use her against him, he would play by the Emperor's rules, at least up front. He could still scheme in secret but a lot of his bigger plans would have to remain on hold until he could figure out how to prevent the Emperor from using Nunnally or worse.

Pushing those thoughts out of his mind, Lelouch entered the interrogation chamber with Suzaku behind him. The door slid closed and Lelouch took a seat in front of the Yamato Alliance leader who gave him a cool glare.

"Well, well, if it isn't the demon and his bitch," the leader spat coolly. "I ain't gonna talk if that's why you're here."

"Is that so? I am sure that I can change your mind quickly enough," Lelouch said, locking eyes with the leader. "After all,"—he activated his Geass—"you do want to talk with me and will answer all of my questions truthfully."

The leader stiffened and then relaxed as his eyes gained a red ring around the irises. "I guess I do wanna talk after all," he said monotonously.

Lelouch leaned back in his seat. "Why did you attack the Weapons Depot?" he said.

"Because I wanted the weapons that the Liberators promised me."

Lelouch's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"The Liberators promised my organization weapons and resources if we attacked that lab on the outskirts of the settlement but they betrayed us and didn't give us what they had promised us. So I attacked the depot because I needed to stock up."

"Why did they break their deal with you?"

"They never said why."

Lelouch hummed. Perhaps the Liberators used the Yamato Alliance as a means to an end but had no intention of actively helping them because it would go against their unwillingness to cause civilian causalities but why? He thought.

He decided he would think about that later and, instead, focused on what happened today. "Why did you have your men kill those students?" he asked.

"So there will not be any witnesses. I was not expecting you to show up as early as you had," the leader said.

"So you were planning on killing those witnesses, grabbing the weapons, and leaving before I got there?"

"Yes."

Lelouch narrowed his eyes again but stood up, breaking eye contact and watching as the red ring vanished from around the Yamato Alliance's leader's eyes. Hmm, it seems to only stay active if I'm maintaining eye contact. That explains why it turned off, so to speak, when I broke eye contact with Tara but reactivated when I said the trigger word though I was not maintaining eye contact, he thought.

He turned and left the interrogation room, issuing orders to have the terrorist moved to a secure cell until his trial. Cornelia had disappeared but, according to Tadashi, she'd gone to check on the status of the relocation of the dead and wounded from the depot.

Suzaku was being quiet though, Lelouch noticed and he turned to face his Knight. "What's the matter, Suzaku?" he asked.

Suzaku hesitated. "I'm sorry, my prince," he said.

"What for?"

Suzaku's brow furrowed a little. "For acting without orders earlier," he said.

"Don't worry about it, Suzaku," Lelouch reassured him since he probably would have done something similar, if not worse, had Suzaku not gotten to him first. As it was, that insult still caused him to simmer with anger but he shoved it aside for now. "Let's get back to the palace."

Suzaku nodded and the two, with portions of Lelouch's Royal Guard behind them, headed for the entrance to the military base.

. . .

A/n what do you think?

Blaze: I may have gone overboard with the Yamato Alliance and what they did so sorry about that. But I get to introduce Alice (and, before anyone asks, yes, Alice is the same Alice from Nightmare of Nunnally) so that's good. She may not play a large role in the plot but she does play a role

Bakura: whatever

Lelouch: what will happen next?

Blaze: Lake Kawaguchi. That is all I shall say

Lelouch: I see. Should I be worried?

Blaze: nah.

Lelouch: … Why do I have this feeling you are not being completely truthful?

Blaze: so I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Lelouch: the sudden change of subject makes me even more suspicious

Blaze: psh (waves hand dismissively) I don't know what you're talking about. Anyway, reviews, as always, are much appreciated.